Skip to main content

Tag: Holmes Beach commission election

Oelfke shares commission hopes

Oelfke shares commission hopes

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

Commissioner Steve Oelfke has a lot of ideas and he’s hoping that voters will put him in one of two available seats on the city commission in November.

“I knew that there was a need for people to step up and I felt that was the direction I would move in at some point,” he said of throwing his hat in the ring to make the transition. “The reason why I’m doing any of this is because we, my wife and my family, love where we live.”

Oelfke said it’s important to him to serve the community in some way, crediting Commissioner Terry Schaffer with “planting the seed” that encouraged him to apply for the planning commission, which now has led to him to seek elected office in the city.

In his professional life, Oelfke is a nursing home administrator, a job that lets him do what he loves – helping people. It’s that attitude that he wants to bring to the city commission by working as a team with the other commissioners to best serve the community and solve problems.

“The biggest problem is handling the amount of people who want to come to the Island, the strain that puts on the people who live on the Island,” he said. “I think the biggest problem is how to handle that.”

Some of the effects of that strain, Oelfke said, are traffic, accidents, noise and strain on infrastructure. While he said he doesn’t believe that the parking garage at Manatee Beach proposed by county commissioners would be an answer, he does feel that the Gulf Island Ferry service is a nod in the right direction to helping reduce traffic.

To really reduce traffic, he said, mass transit has to become a more viable option for commuters and beachgoers. For that to happen, he said the Anna Maria Island Bridge on Manatee Avenue would need a third lane, one that would be dedicated to bus and trolley service along with first responder vehicles in an emergency. To take the idea a step further, Oelfke said the third lane could also be utilized as an extra traffic lane to move heavy traffic off the Island, though he did acknowledge the third lane would really need to extend to the mainland in Bradenton to truly be effective.

He also sees the county effort to put another ferry stop on Anna Maria Island as a positive move in the right direction to build up mass transit from the mainland.

Two county-led efforts that Oelfke said he’s not in favor of are consolidation of the three Island cities and a parking garage at the county-owned Manatee Beach.

He said part of the charm of the Island is in its quaintness and diversity among the three cities along with the small-town feel. Building high rises on the beach and taking away local government would ruin the character that makes the Island special.

“The Island, I feel, is a paradise,” Oelfke said. “We feel lucky to live here.”

Hear Oelfke answer questions from the community live at The Sun’s candidate forum on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. at Holmes Beach City Hall.

Holmes Beach commissioner seeks re-election

Holmes Beach commissioner seeks re-election

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioner Dan Diggins is seeking another term on the dais with the goal of establishing a better relationship with Manatee County and Florida state leaders.

“My number one goal is to have a better relationship with the county and the state because whatever we’ve been doing, it’s not working,” Diggins said. He added that he has talked with Rep. Will Robinson Jr., who suggested the city give a little on some county initiatives. One of those initiatives that Diggins is in favor of pursuing is a water taxi landing area. He said he feels that he might be the only elected official in the city who is willing to say he supports the concept of a water taxi landing.

“If you support the concept, then the plan will come,” Diggins said.

One county project that he’s not willing to bend on is a proposed multi-level parking garage at Manatee Beach. Diggins said the addition of a parking garage wouldn’t alleviate traffic to the beach. He also noted that the project is currently unfunded by the county.

“There’s plenty of parking,” he said. “We don’t really restrict parking like they do in Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria. We don’t charge for parking. We mark our parking spaces. We welcome visitors to come in and enjoy the beaches. We really do welcome the people.”

He also said he doesn’t support consolidating the three Anna Maria Island cities into one. Diggins said he thinks consolidation could have been done several decades ago, but now it wouldn’t be beneficial to the cities or fiscally responsible. He said now it would be more expensive to consolidate the cities than it would be to maintain the three city governments, though he could see some benefits in consolidating some services among the cities. One thing that concerns him about the consolidation talks, he said, is that any cost savings would come at the expense of people’s jobs.

One change he would like to see is a lower millage rate.

Diggins noted that the city has done a lot to build up reserves but he feels those funds are in good shape and the taxpayers deserve a break, along with a lowered city budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

If re-elected by voters in November, Diggins said he plans to continue bringing an open mind and willingness to hear both sides of an issue to the city government.

“One thing I can do when I’m up there on the dais is I can argue both sides of most of the issues. I’ve done that several times, I’ve argued both sides and I think that’s the sign of an open mind. I see this at the county level when I attend their meetings. Their minds are already made up, it doesn’t matter what people say,” Diggins said. “I actually listen to what the people say. I listen to all the facts and then I make a decision. My decision’s not made ahead of time and I purposely argue two sides of most issues before I make up my mind.”